Keyboard Builders' Digest / Inspiration
Pittheus
Ikeji's Pittheus is a foldable monoblock keyboard with a clever hinge mechanism.
Published November 30, 2022
Our good old friend Ikeji, who had more than a heavy hand in the Google JP stick keyboard, came back to me (thanks!) with his Pittheus, a cool 3D foldable ortho keyboard with Atreus angles.
I've been eyeing with this exciting project since early October but the project page was published only recently.
We've seen foldable keyboards before, but usually they were intended to fold on a different plane: to adjust the angle between the halves. So I deem this design a unique foldable mechanism which results in an angled monoblock keyboard. Very cool.
Features
- The layout is based on the common 4x6 arrangement with 2 extra keys added at the hinges.
- 16mm spacing to achieve a more compact device.
- Both the left and right halves are tilted by 20° which was inspired by a similar angle of the Atreus.
- The name Pittheus is derived from Atreus, and it's a reference to Greek mythology as well (Pittheus).
- The USB cable is fixed to the keyboard, and can be wrapped around the whole thing in its closed state.
While the Pittheus already looks awesome, the author is going to make a low profile version:
I think it’s too thick. I think I should use low profile switches instead of the Cherry MX style ones – Ikeji.
Unfortunately, the files are not open source, better said Ikeji has no particular plans with the design yet. He told me he may share the files in the future.
Resources
Published on Wed 30th Nov 2022. Featured in KBD #105 (source).
Related
Fusion
Fusion is u/steven4012's foldable travel board – with all the source files.
Fusion with supercap
Fusion by steven4012 updated with a supercap and solar charging.
Valkyrie folding keyboard
VFK-001 aka Valkyrie folding keyboard, a vertical Dactyl that can be folded up and taken with you. Shared by v0Che.
btrfld v3
SolidusHal's btrfld v3 is still a foldable tenting keyboard, but now with ultra low-profile switches.